The Political Spectrum  Some assumption about people and politics:  All people have different views about how government should accomplish its purposes.  The two basic competing political perspectives on how government should accomplish its three purposes are called the LIBERAL perspective and the CONSERVATIVE perspective.  LIBERAL and CONSERVATIVE beliefs are in a continuous, constant conflict with each other over the best way for government to accomplish its three purposes. Sometimes one person can be conflicted because they have liberal and conservative beliefs.

The Political Spectrum  What does the government need to accomplish the purposes of government  Government needs to able to force people to behave in ways that they may not choose (coercive behavior).  POLICE!  Government needs to be able to afford the costs to maintain order, provide public goods, and protect property (extract wealth).  TAXES!

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 The US and State Government employ roughly one million people to enforce the law (roughly 3.5 people per 1,000 population)  The US military has 1.4 million people serving in active duty and another 1.4 million in reserves  Those personnel enforce everything from local traffic laws to federal drug enforcement  These personnel have the legal authority to detain and even kill violators of the law  The US military has 1.4 million people serving in active duty and another 1.4 million in reserves